Carmine Rojas (born February 14, 1953) is an American bass guitarist, musical director and composer. His musical styles include rock, R&B, funk, and jazz.

Music career

Early years, as sideman

Born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, Rojas toured the world with

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

from 1983 through 1987, playing bass on " Let's Dance", " China Girl", " Modern Love" and " Blue Jean". Live DVDs include '' Serious Moonlight'' (1983) and ''

Glass Spider ''Glass Spider'' is a concert film by English singer David Bowie. The release was sourced from eight shows during the first two weeks of November 1987 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Australia during the last month of the Glass Spider To ...

'' (1987). He recorded and toured with

Julian Lennon Julian Charles John Lennon (born John Charles Julian Lennon; 8 April 1963) is an English musician, photographer, author, and philanthropist. He is the son of Beatles member John Lennon and his first wife Cynthia; Julian is named after his pate ...

as a musical director and bassist from 1985–1986. He recorded and toured with

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

as a musical director and bass guitarist from 1988 through 2003. One of the multiple albums recorded during that time includes the MTV multi-platinum live CD and DVD, '' Unplugged...and Seated''. He also co-wrote songs on the albums '' Vagabond Heart'' and ''

A Spanner in the Works '' A Spanner in the Works '' is the seventeenth studio album released by Rod Stewart on 29 May 1995. It ended a four-year gap since his previous studio album, '' Vagabond Heart''. Although he did release the live album '' Unplugged...and Seated' ...

''. Carmine has also recorded, toured and played alongside

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

Ron Wood Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in '' Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (also known as SRV; October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (band), Double Trouble. Although his ma ...

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

Joe Bonamassa Joseph Leonard Bonamassa ( ; born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his inde ...

, Eric Johnson,

Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English-American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands the Herd and Humble Pie. Later in his career, Frampton found significant success as a s ...

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer. He is best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Tired of ...

, Carly Simon, Ian Anderson, Paul Rogers, Noel Gallagher, John Waite, Steve Winwood, Billy Joel,

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

Lee Ritenour Lee Mack Ritenour ( ; born January 11, 1952) is an American jazz guitarist who has been active since the late 1960s. Biography Ritenour was born in 1952, in Los Angeles, California. At the age of eight he started playing guitar and four years l ...

(Musical Director/Bassist), Richie Sambora, Robert Randolph, Joe Don Rooney, Trace Adkins, Nancy Wilson, John Hiatt, Carole King, Beth Hart, Bobby Womack, Sam Moore, Billy Squier, Rob Hyman & Eric Bazilian, Olivia Newton-John, Michael Hutchence, Bernard Fowler, Blondie Chaplin, Billy Gibbons, Leslie West, Joe Lynn Turner, Carlos Santana, Todd Rundgren, Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx, Michael Bolton, Ivan Neville, Allen Toussaint, Phil Ramone, Kevin Shirley, Trevor Horn, Charlie Sexton, Jewel, Brandy, Dave Mason, Mike Patton, Glenn Hughes, Nektar,

Belouis Some Belouis Some (born Neville Keighley; 12 December 1959) is a British singer, songwriter and musician. He had UK and worldwide hits in the 1980s with " Some People", "Imagination" and " Round, Round", the latter being featured on the soundtrack fo ...

, Tetsuya Komuro, Hitomi, Ziroq, Modern Primitives, Simranking, Sass Jordan, Alphaville and others.

Ziroq

in 1998, Rojas with Rock / Flamenco guitarist Marcos Nand sang lead vocals in both Spanish and English The both arranging & composing, formed the band Ziroq in Los Angeles. The band blends Spanish, rock, flamenco, and other eastern European influences. In 2001 the band released the full-length album ''Ziroq''. David Beamish of DVDActive praised the "fiery, passionate performances." A review by Mark Schwartz stated, "On their self-titled debut, Middle Eastern percussion, violin, and flamenco guitars take the fore, in counterpoint to Nand's smoky vocals." In support of the album the band performed throughout the west coast, appearing at the Whole Earth Festival in April 2002. The 2002 Putamayo World Music compilation ''Regueton'', the Ziroq track "Que Peña," peaked at #11 on the Tropical/Salsa chart at ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''.

Discography

With Alphaville * '' Afternoons in Utopia'' (Atlantic Records, 1986) With Martin Briley * '' Dangerous Moments'' (Mercury Records, 1984) With

* '' You & Me'' (J&R Adventures, 2006) * ''

Sloe Gin Sloe gin is a British red liqueur made with gin and Prunus spinosa, blackthorn fruits (sloes), which are the drupe fruit of the ''Prunus spinosa'' tree, which is a relative of the plum. As an alcoholic drink, sloe gin contains between 15 per c ...

'' (J&R Adventures, 2007) * '' The Ballad of John Henry'' (J&R Adventures, 2009) * '' Black Rock'' (J&R Adventures, 2010) * ''

Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of natural factors (severe drought) and hum ...

'' (J&R Adventures, 2011) * '' Driving Towards the Daylight'' (Provogue Records, 2012) * '' Different Shades of Blue'' (Provogue Records, 2014) With

* '' Let's Dance'' (EMI, 1983) * ''

Tonight Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...

'' (EMI, 1984) * ''

Never Let Me Down ''Never Let Me Down'' is the seventeenth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 21 April 1987 through EMI America Records. Co-produced by Bowie and David Richards (record producer), David Richards and featuring guit ...

'' (EMI, 1987) With Bernard Fowler * ''Friends With Privileges'' (Sony, 2006) With

Beth Hart Beth Hart (born January 24, 1972) is an American musician from Los Angeles, California. She rose to fame with the release of her 1999 single "LA Song (Out of This Town)" from her second album ''Screamin' for My Supper''. The single was a number ...

and

* '' Don't Explain'' (J&R Adventures, 2011) * ''

Seesaw A seesaw (also sometimes known as a teeter-totter in North America) is a long, narrow board supported by a single pivot point, most commonly located at the midpoint between both ends; as one end goes up, the other goes down. These are most comm ...

'' (J&R Adventures, 2013) With Nona Hendryx * ''Nona Hendryx'' (Epic Records, 1977) * ''Nona'' (RCA Records, 1983) With Sass Jordan * ''

Rats Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

'' (Impact Records, 1994) With

Labelle Labelle was an American funk rock band that originated out of the Blue Belles, a girl group who were a popular vocal group of the 1960s and 1970s. The original group was formed after the disbanding of two rival girl groups in the area around ...

* '' Pressure Cookin''' (RCA Records, 1973) * '' Phoenix'' (Epic Records, 1975) * ''

Chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (Family (biology), family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this Family (biology), family are best known for ...

'' (Epic Records, 1976) With

* '' Valotte'' (Atlantic Records, 1984) * '' The Secret Value of Daydreaming'' (Atlantic Records, 1986) With

Dave Mason David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who came to prominence in 1967 as a founding member of the rock band Traffic. While with Traffic, he wrote and sang lead vocals on two of the b ...

* ''26 Letters - 12 Notes'' (Sony, 2008) * '' Future's Past'' (Something Music, 2014) With Ryan McGarvey * ''Heavy Hearted'' (Forward, 2018) With Charlie Sexton * '' Charlie Sexton'' (MCA Records, 1989) With

* '' Some People'' (Parlophone, 1985) * ''

'' (Capitol Records, 1987) With

Billy Squier William Haislip Squier (, born May 12, 1950) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who had a string of arena rock and crossover hits in the early 1980s. His best-known songs include " The Stroke", " Lonely Is the Night", " My Kinda Love ...

* '' Tell the Truth'' (Capitol Records, 1993) With

* '' Vagabond Heart'' (Warner Bros. Records, 1991) * ''

'' (Warner Bros. Records, 1995) With Steve Taylor * '' On the Fritz'' (Sparrow Records, 1985) With

* '' Foreign Affair'' (Capitol Records, 1989) With

John Waite John Charles Waite (born 4 July 1952) is an English rock singer and musician. As a solo artist, he has released ten studio albums and is best known for the 1984 hit single "Missing You (John Waite song), Missing You", which reached No. 1 on th ...

* '' Mask of Smiles'' (EMI, 1985)

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite web, url=http://jbonamassa.com/about-joe/about-band/, title=Joe Bonamassa - About Joe Bonamassa and Band, publisher=Jbonamassa.com, accessdate=2014-07-30, url-status=dead, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718111001/http://jbonamassa.com/about-joe/about-band/, archivedate=2014-07-18 --> {{cite news , title = Ziroq - Ziroq (HK - DVD) , first = David , last = Beamish , url = http://www.dvdactive.com/reviews/music/ziroq-ziroq.html?newwindow=true , publisher = DVDActive , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140705184150/http://www.dvdactive.com/reviews/music/ziroq-ziroq.html?newwindow=true , archive-date = 2014-07-05 , date = , accessdate = 2014-05-25 {{cite news , title = Rumba Flamenco , url = http://www.allmusic.com/album/rumba-flamenco-putumayo-mw0000661620 , publisher =

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, date = 2002 , accessdate = 2014-05-25 {{cite news , title = Shredding the Rumba - Marcos Flan , first = Brian , last = Tarquin , url = http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/shredding-the-rumba-ndash-marcus-nand-1 , newspaper =

Premier Guitar ''Premier Guitar'' is a media company devoted to guitarists. It is based in Marion, Iowa. Interviews have included guitarists such as Pete Townshend of The Who, Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Guthrie Govan, Brent ...

, publisher = , date = July 10, 2008 , accessdate = 2014-05-21 {{cite news , title = Rojas, Kentis and Jacoby feature on new DVD , first = Ian , last = Roberts , url = http://www.rodstewartfanclub.com/about_rod/article/EpkAFEEyyAlodeyPwF.php , publisher = Rod Stewart Fan Club , date = August 14, 2002 , accessdate = 2014-05-25

External links

*{{discogs artist
Joe Bonamassa official website
{{Joe Bonamassa {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Rojas, Carmine 1953 births Living people American rock bass guitarists American session musicians Musicians from Brooklyn Guitarists from New York (state) American male bass guitarists 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians